Ukrainian commanders say, according to the news agency Reuters, that the Russian forces are trying to go on the offensive in eastern Ukraine. It will take place north of the city of Bakhmut, in the Kharkiv region. A spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern military forces says the Russian army has massed more than 100,000 soldiers and 900 tanks in the area. If this is true, we are talking about a rather large force. It is certainly not clear how many new soldiers have arrived or whether they have been in eastern Ukraine before. The Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar also says that the occupation forces are attacking offensively in the Kharkiv region in the direction of the city of Kupjansk. – We defend ourselves. There are fierce battles going on and the positions on both sides change several times every day, says Maljar. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that its forces have advanced from two kilometers. Ukrainian authorities say that the situation is “complicated”, but that they are able to hold back the Russians. It may appear that Russia is trying to initiate a new military test of strength in an area that the Ukrainians liberated last autumn. Escalation This is happening at the same time that the Ukrainians yesterday most likely sent sea-going drones to the bridge over the Kerch Strait. Powerful explosives destroyed parts of the bridge. IMPORTANT: The bridge from the Russian mainland to Crimea was partially destroyed in explosions yesterday. Photo: AP Last night, the Russians sent six cruise missiles and more than 30 drones against targets in southern and eastern Ukraine. Odesa was particularly affected. It particularly affected facilities in the harbor there. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson calls what happened a “revenge attack” after the action against the bridge to Crimea. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that 28 drones were sent against the occupied and annexed Crimean peninsula today. It is alleged that all were shot down. But in recent days there has been a sharp escalation of attacks and military activity in Ukraine. The Ukrainian offensive is slow The Ukrainian authorities announced a spring offensive earlier this year. It was postponed, and eventually there was talk of a summer offensive. It took time to transfer more modern weapons from Western countries, and the Ukrainian soldiers had to be trained. But even though Ukraine officially declared earlier this summer that the offensive was under way, the progress so far has not been as spectacular as it was last year. The leaders in the country say that things are not going as quickly as they would like. In the last week, the Ukrainians have taken a few square kilometers in a couple of places along the front, in another place the Russians have advanced a little. The Ukrainians try their hand Some military experts believe that the Ukrainian forces are currently trying out their new weapons in battle against the Russians. And the authorities in Kyiv say they are moving forward deliberately slowly to avoid major losses. They point out that there are a lot of mines in the areas where they are advancing. Moreover, it is important for Ukraine to prevent the Russian army from succeeding in its plan to go on the offensive in the Kharkiv region. It is said that the main task now is to attack and weaken Russian supply lines and command points. Needs long-range missiles and aircraft At the NATO summit in Vilnius recently, Ukraine was promised supplies of more long-range missiles. So far, the rockets have had a range of around 80 kilometres. GOING FAR: The British-French Storm Shadow/Scalp-eg missiles will be important for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Photo: AP Now we are talking about British-French rockets that can travel about 300 kilometers. Ukraine is said to have already received some of these weapons. These missiles will mean a lot to the Ukrainians’ ability to attack the Russians far behind the front lines. Soon, Ukrainian fighter pilots will also be trained in Western countries to fly American-built F-16 fighter jets. The most optimistic believe that the planes could be in the air over Ukraine by the end of the year. From the Russian side, it is said that the F-16 will be a serious threat in warfare. An autumn or winter offensive? Ukrainian military leaders may not deploy all of their new weapons on the ground until they gain better control of the airspace. So far they have only used a part of the new forces and weapons, according to some reports it is about a third. Thus, it is possible that the main Ukrainian offensive with all the divisions can be launched even later. Maybe in the fall and maybe in the winter. And the longer the conflict lasts, the more decisive it becomes whether the Russian or the Ukrainian army wears out first.
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Ukraine believes that Russia will launch a new offensive – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
